PT: It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Daily Scot (né Bathgate) on this blog – even though on some weeks he does text a daily observation. Here are some:
DS: A great idea from TransLink, for those with bikes who would like to rack them on a bus but are too intimidated to do it for the first time:
DS: Port Moody must use the suburban planner’s manual: shared asphalt walk/biking path when there is a wide road begging for a separated lane.
DS: Turks and Caicos meets Coquitlam. Fun colours on the North Road border as it takes on a population closer to the West End.
DS:Corten steel is back. Victoria does it! LeFevre & Co. are the developers – do great work and restored a lot of heritage buildings over the years.
DS: Every helmet is missing on these Mobibikes. Is that because of Covid?
I could have definitely used one of those practice racks before I attempted to use one on the front of a real bus. Driver got so disgusted watching me grunt and curse with the thing he got off and racked my bike himself.
I made a point of bringing my bike to a bus loop so I could practice using the rack while the bus was laying over. But having an actual practice rack is a fantastic idea. How do we find out where they’re located?
From Translink website:
“Nervous about using the bike rack for the first time in traffic?
Practice with your bike at one of our Rack and Ride demo-stations! The demo-stations are available at two locations: Main Street-Science World Station in Vancouver, and City of North Vancouver’s City Hall Plaza.”
And for those who stop by HUB Cycling Bike to Work Celebration Stations (coming back in September), in past years we have regularly had a Translink demo bus bike rack set up, and we encourage people to try it out. It is a very popular activity at the event; many more would use a bus rack if they were more confident, and there they can do it two or three times to see how it works, with a volunteer guide who talks them through it.
Mobi helmets – I wonder if the police turns a blind eye towards the mandatory helmet law because it’s rare to find one at any Mobi station. Enforcers could just wait around the corner and fine the recreational cyclists as they’re getting out of a station.
In my experience, the police in Vancouver are more focused on activities that put people on bikes or walking at risk, such as right turning across a bike lane or crosswalk when it is occupied. HUB Cycling invited the VPD bike enforcement team to several Bike to Work stations, and I worked alongside the two uniformed officers for several hours more than once. Great guys. They engaged many people cycling by along 10th and on the Arbutus Greenway, but there were zero conversations about helmets, worn or not. What was a focus, and rightly so in my opinion, was the use of two earbuds. Those that said yes, but I want to listen to music, were advised to do it with one earbud.
It may differ from city to city.